Friday, April 21
Champaign, Ill.
4:00 pm CT
Michigan State University
at
Illinois
Photo by: Sarah Smith
Softball Heads to Illinois for Crucial Three-Game Series
4/20/2023 11:46:00 AM | Softball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State softball travels to Champaign, Illinois this weekend for a three-game series against the Fighting Illini on April 21-23. This weekend is an important step for the Spartans towards potential qualification for the Big Ten Tournament in May as MSU takes on the current No. 12-seed in Illinois. The Fighting Illini are one game ahead of the Spartans in the standings.
Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed live on B1G+ while Saturday night's game will broadcast nationally on ESPNU. Matt Schumaker and Erin Miller will have the broadcast call for the ESPNU broadcast on April 22. Links to live stats and streaming available here.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (subject to change)
Friday, April 21
at Illinois – 5:00 p.m. EDT / 4:00 p.m. CDT
Saturday, April 22
at Illinois – 6:00 p.m. EDT / 5:00 p.m. CDT
Sunday, April 23
at Illinois – 12:00 p.m. EDT / 11:00 a.m. CDT
ABOUT ILLINOIS
The Friday, April 21 meeting between Michigan State and Illinois is believed to be the first meeting between Black head coaches in Power Five softball history. Michigan State's Sharonda McDonald-Kelley is in her first season at the Power Five level while Illinois' Tyra Perry is in her eighth season at the helm.
Michigan State will join Illinois in wearing teal accessories on Saturday to promote awareness and provide support for those with ovarian cancer.
Michigan State is 7-25 all-time against Illinois, including a 2-14 record when playing in Champaign. Prior to a win in 2021, MSU had lost 16 straight against the Fighting Illini. MSU has not played a series in Champaign since 2011 when the Spartans lost a pair of games (6-3, 3-2) on March 26-27, 2011.
Illinois enters the weekend 24-21 with a 3-11 mark in conference action. The Illini are coming off a mid-week loss to Illinois State by a final score of 3-2. Illinois is currently #70 in the NCAA RPI.
The Illini rank No. 130 nationally in batting average (.269), No. 168 in ERA (3.67), No. 71 in fielding percentage (.968), No. 174 in on-base percentage (.336), No. 143 in scoring (4.13) and No. 122 in slugging percentage (.397).
Two Illini batters are hitting over .300 this season with Stevie Meade batting .326 and Kelly Ryono hitting .324. Ryono leads the team with eight home runs and 41 RBIs. Five members of the Illini have played in and started all 45 games (Meade, Ryono, Megan Ward, Avrey Steiner, and Delaney Rummell).
In the circle Sydney Sickels leads the team with a 3.15 ERA over 131.0 innings pitched. Sickels also leads the Fighting Illini with 12 complete games, a 1.07 WHIP and 120 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .223 against Sickels. Also drawing starts for Illinois are Lauren Wiles (20 appearances, 13 starts) and Tori McQueen (18 appearances, 11 starts). Wiles is second on the team in innings pitched with 61.2 along with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. McQueen has thrown 59.2 innings to the tune of a 3.17 ERA.
MAKING THE MOST OF IT
Over the last 10 games, nobody has made more of an impression than senior outfielder Brooke Snyder. A reserve for most of her career, Snyder has made seven starts for the Spartans in the last 10 games and leads the team in batting average over that span hitting .318.
Entering the season with just eight career at-bats and two career hits, Snyder has gone 7-for-22 at the plate in nine games played. Her seven hits ranks second on the team, her two extra-base hits and two-RBIs are tied for the most on the team in that span. Snyder has also successfully executed a pair of sacrifice bunts while playing solid defense in right.
MID-WEEK REWIND - SPARTANS DOWNED BY WOLVERINES
Michigan State was defeated by Michigan in its final mid-week game of the season on April 18, losing 8-0 to the Wolverines in five innings. The Spartans had plenty of opportunities to make something happen however, leaving nine runners on base. It was the third-most LOB of the season for Michigan State.
LOOKING FORWARD
Michigan State has just two B1G series remaining after this week, welcoming Purdue to East Lansing April 28-30 and visiting Indiana May 5-7 to wrap the regular season.
Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed live on B1G+ while Saturday night's game will broadcast nationally on ESPNU. Matt Schumaker and Erin Miller will have the broadcast call for the ESPNU broadcast on April 22. Links to live stats and streaming available here.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (subject to change)
Friday, April 21
at Illinois – 5:00 p.m. EDT / 4:00 p.m. CDT
Saturday, April 22
at Illinois – 6:00 p.m. EDT / 5:00 p.m. CDT
Sunday, April 23
at Illinois – 12:00 p.m. EDT / 11:00 a.m. CDT
ABOUT ILLINOIS
The Friday, April 21 meeting between Michigan State and Illinois is believed to be the first meeting between Black head coaches in Power Five softball history. Michigan State's Sharonda McDonald-Kelley is in her first season at the Power Five level while Illinois' Tyra Perry is in her eighth season at the helm.
Michigan State will join Illinois in wearing teal accessories on Saturday to promote awareness and provide support for those with ovarian cancer.
Michigan State is 7-25 all-time against Illinois, including a 2-14 record when playing in Champaign. Prior to a win in 2021, MSU had lost 16 straight against the Fighting Illini. MSU has not played a series in Champaign since 2011 when the Spartans lost a pair of games (6-3, 3-2) on March 26-27, 2011.
Illinois enters the weekend 24-21 with a 3-11 mark in conference action. The Illini are coming off a mid-week loss to Illinois State by a final score of 3-2. Illinois is currently #70 in the NCAA RPI.
The Illini rank No. 130 nationally in batting average (.269), No. 168 in ERA (3.67), No. 71 in fielding percentage (.968), No. 174 in on-base percentage (.336), No. 143 in scoring (4.13) and No. 122 in slugging percentage (.397).
Two Illini batters are hitting over .300 this season with Stevie Meade batting .326 and Kelly Ryono hitting .324. Ryono leads the team with eight home runs and 41 RBIs. Five members of the Illini have played in and started all 45 games (Meade, Ryono, Megan Ward, Avrey Steiner, and Delaney Rummell).
In the circle Sydney Sickels leads the team with a 3.15 ERA over 131.0 innings pitched. Sickels also leads the Fighting Illini with 12 complete games, a 1.07 WHIP and 120 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .223 against Sickels. Also drawing starts for Illinois are Lauren Wiles (20 appearances, 13 starts) and Tori McQueen (18 appearances, 11 starts). Wiles is second on the team in innings pitched with 61.2 along with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. McQueen has thrown 59.2 innings to the tune of a 3.17 ERA.
MAKING THE MOST OF IT
Over the last 10 games, nobody has made more of an impression than senior outfielder Brooke Snyder. A reserve for most of her career, Snyder has made seven starts for the Spartans in the last 10 games and leads the team in batting average over that span hitting .318.
Entering the season with just eight career at-bats and two career hits, Snyder has gone 7-for-22 at the plate in nine games played. Her seven hits ranks second on the team, her two extra-base hits and two-RBIs are tied for the most on the team in that span. Snyder has also successfully executed a pair of sacrifice bunts while playing solid defense in right.
MID-WEEK REWIND - SPARTANS DOWNED BY WOLVERINES
Michigan State was defeated by Michigan in its final mid-week game of the season on April 18, losing 8-0 to the Wolverines in five innings. The Spartans had plenty of opportunities to make something happen however, leaving nine runners on base. It was the third-most LOB of the season for Michigan State.
LOOKING FORWARD
Michigan State has just two B1G series remaining after this week, welcoming Purdue to East Lansing April 28-30 and visiting Indiana May 5-7 to wrap the regular season.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ SoftballA Road Less Traveled | Spartans All-Access
Thursday, April 17
A Higher Standard | Spartans All-Access
Tuesday, February 11
Spartans All-Access: Jenae Wash
Thursday, April 11
Spartans All-Access: Coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley
Thursday, April 20